Blessed be the Lord my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1 For those who have hunted armed men, training will never be the same. Help the children of fallen heroes: Please Donate:http://www.specialops.org/

"In reality, victim officers in the study averaged just 14 hours of sidearm training and 2.5 qualifications per year. Only 6 of the 50 officers reported practicing regularly with handguns apart from what their department required, and that was mostly in competitive shooting. Overall, the offenders practiced more often than the officers they assaulted, and this "may have helped increase [their] marksmanship skills," the study says. "

These are perishable skills. I can barely maintain my own levelsof proficiency with around 10hrs live fire and a few hours dry fire per month.

Blessed be the Lord my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1 For those who have hunted armed men, training will never be the same. Help the children of fallen heroes: Please Donate:http://www.specialops.org/

Blessed be the Lord my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1 For those who have hunted armed men, training will never be the same. Help the children of fallen heroes: Please Donate:http://www.specialops.org/

Interesting study. If criminals are better trained to commit violence than the law enforcement officers sworn to protect the public, how much less are we, the average citizen, prepared to face a hardened criminal who's decided to make us a victim? It really drives home the point that if we are to be truly self-reliant, we should each be taking on the responsibility every day to train our asses off, to prepare for the eventuality that one day someone is going to approach us with a weapon in their hand and murder in their eyes. Even then, like the study talked about, once we're confronted by an attacker, we're already at a disadvantage, as they've already targeted us, scoped us out, and have initiated violence.

It reminds me of a somewhat embarrassing situation I got myself into a few years ago. I was in my Explorer, in a store parking lot, when I witnessed a guy running out of a gas station with a case of beer in each hand and then jump into the back seat of a car which then drove off. I guess I'd left my brain at home that day, because I got the notion that I should follow them, get their plate info and then go back to the store and give it to them. So, I followed them about half a mile, not too close, but matched their speed.

When I followed them around the corner, two guys got out and the car took off. One of them picked up a cinderblock off the ground and they walked toward the passenger side of my car, the other guy walked to the left of my car. I was rolling slowly, not wanting to run them over, and the guy with the cinderblock raised it over his head and tried to throw it through my windshield. Luckily it hit the frame between the windshield and the door, dented it and bounced off. But, as I was watching him do that, the guy on my driver side sucker punched me in the back of the head as I drove past.

I remember driving off real slowly, kind of in shock from the whole thing. I was trying to figure out if I should stop and go back and fight those dudes, or just go about my business. All I know is I felt like a total chump for letting those guys do that and get away with it. And then I felt like an idiot for following them in the first place. But, I definitely lost confidence in myself and in my martial arts training that day. I learned my lesson, not to get involved with stuff that doesn't already involve me, unless someone's life is in danger. I think my biggest problem that day, besides following a car in the commission of a crime, was that I was not prepared for violence. Those guys were ready at the drop of a hat to fuck me up and I wasn't ready for it.

Edit: I did manage to get their license plate number and go back to give it to the guy in the gas station, for what little it's worth.

^^ Thanks for telling that story. A lot of reality there. Bad guys get to choose the time, the place and the methods of attack. All they don't get to choose is the ultimate outcome. That's up to the intended victim, and a positive outcome will often be a result of luck, awareness, training, fitness, mental toughness, and a ruthless commitment to do whatever it takes to destroy the attacker(s) and get home.

Blessed be the Lord my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1 For those who have hunted armed men, training will never be the same. Help the children of fallen heroes: Please Donate:http://www.specialops.org/

The part of this I liked the most was the last point. The rush to judgement part. It seems in this day and age that every talking head and internet warrior gather small bits and pieces of a story and draw their own conclusions long before any truth comes out. With today's digital society, the court of public opinion moves much faster than the truth. When you add in the media spinning things for drama or political agendas most people are convicted before they even know they need a defense.This applies for LEO or just your average citizen caught up in a situation. Add in the public's need to create conspiracy theories and you have recipe for disater every time.

"Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."- Earl Nightingale

Brooklyn_teacher wrote:Has anyone been following the Trayvon Martin case? I mentioned it in a thread a couple weeks ago and now it's all over the news. I feel like it possibly deserves a thread of it's own on here.

Blessed be the Lord my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1 For those who have hunted armed men, training will never be the same. Help the children of fallen heroes: Please Donate:http://www.specialops.org/